Catching up!

We haven't posted for awhile now and have had so much going on.  We want you too see so, here is a catch up  from the last week.  The pictures are backwards so that when I make it into a book, they are in order of the events happening.  Sorry for the inconvenience :)

Here are a few kids from the ward Trunk or Treat.  We had a great time seeing all of the fun costumes.  We missed most of the festivities because we were having festivities of our own with our family.

This is the kind of trick or treating that happens in Oliver's neighborhood (my brother, for those who don't know)  There were nacho stands, hotdog stands and scone & doughnut stands.  They have a feast....it was really fun and delicious.  Steve especially liked the nachos with jalapeno's.  I liked the scones.  

Here are the cousins in costume. L to R we have Oliva the duck, Aubrey the feather witch, Vaughn the chicken, Joey the ninja, Isabel as Super girl and Abigail as Tinker bell. They all looked so adorable.

Here is Abs playing in Uncle Oliver and Aunt Keisha's kitchen.  Her makeup was starting to get a little smeared but she still looked great.

Here is a shot of Abs trying to get out of her room.  A while back, the crystal door knob broke on Steve slicing his hand pretty bad.  We haven't replaced it yet because they are hard to find.  Anyway, at night we put her to bed and after she is asleep we close her in, for several reasons(to keep the heat in, to keep her from coming down to our room 3+ times a night, etc.....)  So this is her waiting un-patiently to come and get her out....it was too funny not to post!

Our new computer has a ton of fun things to play with.  This is a shot I took while checking my email......it takes really good pictures, I was surprised!  We have been nothing but pleased with our iMac.

Went to a baby shower and this is what Emily and I went in on for our cousin Patricia.  She is due in like 2 weeks now with her 3rd girl.  I just LOVE making these cute diaper cakes.  It is fun to stuff them full of goodies for the babies.  GOOD LUCK PATRICIA, we love you!

Here are a few shots of Abs dancing in her oversized fairy dress.  When she watched any movie with dancing she has to join in.  She immediately runs to me to ask me to get her a dress and quick so that she can dance along to whatever it is.....usually a Barbie or Princess movie.

These next 2 are some of the first pictures that we took with our new camera and I thought they turned out cute so I had to put them in.  We got a new to us, used Canon Rebel digital camera.  I don't know all of the specs but it is nice, and we LOVE it!  Thanks Christina for getting a new camera so we could buy your old one!!!  Steve is excited to invest in some better lenses.  Emily also got a pretty fancy camera so the three of us (Christina, Emily and myself) are planning to take a photography class in January.  It should be pretty fun, that way we can learn how to use these cameras!  We are glad to be rid of the 2.0 megapixel that we have been using for 4 years now.  The pictures from the old one weren't good quality so we had been looking into a new one for a while now.  We definitely found a deal that we couldn't pass up.  Just look at our little Noodles face, the difference in the photo quality is astoundingly good compared to the older posts on the blog.  Enough about that....onto the next!

This last one is a big deal for me.  I got my first season of canning behind me!  THANKS MOM for helping me out so much and especially for showing me the ropes.  I had a really good time doing it minus the mess.  My Mom came over to help me get started with my very first batch.  I did peaches, pears, apricots and apples (pie filling and apple sauce) It is really addicting.  I am ready to rip half of the back yard out next year for a garden!  I love home grown produce and would love it even more year round.

That's the update!  We hope everyone had a great Halloween and Fall season.  We are having a wonderful year accompanied by a load of fun!

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch to see what we could find.  Abigail was overwhelmed to see all of the pumpkins.  She has this look on her face like she is thinking "what are all of the pumpkins doing on the ground...there are SOOOO many!"  She picked a cute little pumpkin to take home and call her own.  BTW  she hasn't looked at or touched it since she got it into the house :) 

The terrain was pretty rough with all of the dirt mounds which made for a difficult play area for Abby.  Here we are picking the stickers out of her little hand.  She took off running and fell right into a big patch of them.  Some of them were pretty deep so there was a little blood involved.  "Mom, I bleeded, I'm gonna die, I'm dying Mom!" Were her words.  What a funny kid with a crack up sense of humor.

...and yes, that is a cordless house phone(Abby's play phone) in my back pocket.  Abigail insisted it come along in the car with us so she could call all of her friends on the way.  I didn't know it made it to the patch until we were too far away from the car to take it back.  I am sure people thought I was a loon carrying that thing around at a pumpkin patch :)

COOKIES and THIEVES

Here is Abs this afternoon with her second adorable cookie face.  It's like she eats the cookie so fast she has to get messy or something.  FUNNY!  

side note:  Last night I went to shop for fall decor sales Roberts Craft.  I found some great stuff which compliments my mantel nicely.  The other thing I am 99% sure I witnesses was a shoplifter.  I totally saw this girl looking at birthday candles and she had a pack of them in her hand when I walked by the aisle.  By the time I got to the other end of the aisle, she was sticking something in her pocket and nervously looking around.  Now I can't be sure it was the candles that she put in her pocket but when we went to check out, she was in front of us with her mother who was paying for several items.  She walked out of the store with a pretty bulging back pocket.  Who steals birthday candles anyway....they are like a buck!  

COOKIES!

We Made Chocolate Chip Cranberry cookies today.  I won the pre-packaged mix at Bunco last month so I decided that today was the day to try it out.  The mixes are from the Prepared Pantry here in Idaho Falls.   I think it is in Idaho Falls?  I am not really sure if it is here, or in Shelley.  Regardless of where the place is, the mix was fabulous!  I was hesitant about the cranberries being in there, but oh man, it was nice to have such a different flavor mixed in there.  Here is a shot of Abigail enjoying her fresh baked cookie this afternoon.  I am not sure that we even posted a picture of her doorway playhouse that she got for her birthday.  She loves that thing because the doorbell rings.   She was pretending to go into her house and bake some cookies of her own.  

A little side note:  Bedtime has been difficult this month because Abby wants to be with us in our room.  I can't imagine why, with the Tempurpedic being fabulously comfortable and all :)  I kept taking her to her room and finally thought of a fun little thing to keep her occupied.  I told her to invite her babies to story time, help them say their prayers and tuck them into bed.  I left her up there to do her thing and heard her on the monitor actually reading them her color and animal book.  It was so stinkin' cute.  I went up there to tuck her in and she had her babies (mr. bumblebee, mr. penguin, dolly, puppy and teddy) lined up and tucked in.  I told her it was time for bed and she said " Mom, we haven't finished our story yet"   I sat in the rocking chair across the room so I could watch her finish reading to her babies and then tucked her in.  I went downstairs and went to bed.  Steve was still up doing homework.  After all that, she still ended up in our bed around 12:00 because she was screaming about a monster in her closet.  I guess that is what we get for letting her watch Monsters inc.  It is no longer her favorite movie, she has moved onto The Little Mermaid!

BLIZZARD!

Here is a shot of what it looked like outside this morning.  Last night we were out with some cousins and ended up having to drive home in a BLIZZARD!  It is getting pretty cold outside, thankfully tomorrow is supposed to be a little more sunny.  It's funny to me how the weather changes so quickly.  Just a few days ago, I posted a picture of Abs playing out in the leaves :)

WE ARE PROUD!

We are the proud new owners of an iMac!  It is fabulous, I have been playing with it all day off and on.  The truth is it took me an hour to figure out how to add my own profile.  Let's just say they are a tiny bit different then the PCs I have used my whole life.  Steve needed a more reliable computer for art school so I gave into his pleadings.  I am really glad I did because I love this thing.  It is really, really nice!

Winter or Fall?

I took Abby outside tonight to get some energy out.  I wasn't sure after the 10 minutes of SNOW today WEATHER it was fall or winter out.  The high today was like 40 something.  GOOD GRIEF it was a very chilly evening but we had fun none the less.  It was fun to play in the leaves and to watch Abs having a good time out of doors.

Kids say interesting things

Last Sunday, Abby actually stayed in nursery. She cried....but she stayed. When I went to pick her up, she came right up to me and said "Mom, I cried at the door" I told her, I know I heard you....she replied to that by saying...." I was freakin' out Mom", all of the nursery leaders had a good laugh at that. I was of course embarrassed because she knows that word, never the less it was funny that she said that. Gotta love kids and their funny personalities.

Waking up to humor

For the last month or so, Abigail has been waking up around 6:30 a.m. to come climb into bed with Mom & Dad. This morning was no different, she climbed up, snuggled in and fell right back to sleep. Steve gets up around 7:15 to start getting ready to be at work by 8:00....I heard him get up and start to get going on breakfast, no sooner was Abby sitting up to say "what's the noise?" I played a little with her and said, I don't know. She got wide eyed and said "Mommy, there is someone in our kitchen eating our cereal!" I continued by saying "uh oh, you'd better go see who it is" She responded by saying "I'm a big tiger and I'm going to get them" I laughed, she climbed out of the bed, and tip toed into the living room and then I heard a big growl....and then a BOO! She wanted to sneak up on the culprit who was eating our cereal in our house.

Giving Grandpa 4E a run for his money!

While we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Forrey last week, Grandma and I went to the gym for a workout while leaving Abby home with Grandpa. Grandpa put a movie on for Abs like she asked him to and attended to some business he had in his office which is pretty much connected to the room Abs was in. Well I am sure you can guess that it got pretty quiet. Grandpa called out to Abby to see what she was up to and there was no response. He then got up to call for her again and she yelled back, "I'm up here" He walked upstairs and I think the story goes that she didn't have any clothes on and had a poopybum. He went up to help her and found the poopy diaper with another one next to it also poopy. She had gotten the wipes out and tried to change her own diaper! HA! What a kick! Grandpa had a good laugh about it when we got home, but I am sure he wasn't laughing when he was cleaning up all the poop! Thanks Grandpa for taking such great care of our Abigail! WE LOVE YOU!

Oregon Trip 2008

Abby and I were fortunate enough to take a trip to Oregon for the last 2 weeks. My Aunt Myra had some business to take care of really close to where Steve's family lives so we hitched a ride with her in her Cadillac (it was really nice to travel in) Thanks Aunt Myra! I am just going to post a bunch of fun pictures and video of things we did...I don't want to bore you with words, I know everyone just wants to see the pictures so here they are! By the way, the videos are long.....so you don't really have to watch the whole thing...I won't feel bad! I won't even know....HA! ENJOY!

You will want to start at the bottom.....Abby's birthday is the first post of this series

Here is video of the Zoo. We got to see the new baby elephant that was born a few weeks ago. It was really neat to see that little guy with his Mommy.

Oregon 2008

Here is noodle the day we arrived home. She was SOOOO Happy just to be home and in her own space to do with whatever she wanted. It is always nice to vacation but even better when you get to be home.

Here are 2 pictures of the coast. The last day we drove up part of the coast. Here is a picture of a lighthouse at Cape Meares and some rocks. Steve tells me this is some scenery from the movie Goonies! Very FUN!
We Stopped for creamsicle smoothies
Here is a shot of Silver Falls....YES! This is the place that part of Twilight was filmed.






Onto a girls day out with Grandma to the Carousel. We all got the ride the Carousel twice and make a souvenir penny and choose a lollipop from the gift shop. Thanks Grandma Forrey!






We started off the week on Monday with a combined birthday party for Abby's cousins Maci & Naomi. What a fun day! We had a BBQ for lunch and then cake and ice cream. Aunt Beth made a fabulous princess cake with towers and everything. Way to go BETH! The kids decorated the castle grounds by decorating their own cupcakes and putting them around the cake. It was very cute.

Oregon Trip 2008

Here is Abby in Pacific City on the Oregon Coast. We were lucky enough to tag along for a youth activity that Grandma & Grandpa Forrey attended. We had so much fun climbing the sand hill. I climbed the whole thing with Grandma and Abby nearly climbed half with Grandpa, she only stopped because she was thirsty, so Grandpa took her all the way down again to get a drink and she wanted to start climbing again because she wanted to get her Mommy. We got to see a live starfish and it was Abby's first trip to the ocean so I had a good time just watching her have fun. Thanks for a great day at the beach G & G 4E!

Happy Birthday Steve!

We missed Steve's Birthday because we were in Oregon with his family but Happy REALLY late birthday STEVE! We Love You and are thankful for everything that you do for our little family.

Happy 2nd Birthday Abby!

This is a little preview of Abigail's 2nd birthday party. She had a pony cake with everything else princess. She has a great birthday and had some really neat and fun gifts! Thanks everyone!

Abigail's true love......CANDY!

Happy Birthday

I had a fun day for my Birthday so I thought I would share one of the cards that I got. My Mother - in- law always finds the perfect cards for every occassion. I am sure this won't be as funny to you as it was to me but those friends of mine who also give plasma will have a great laugh out of it.

Thanks MOM 4E! Thank you to all the others who wished me a happy birthday. It made my day great!

Crazy 8's

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. my family
2. my extended family
3. music
4. creating things with fabric
5. taking pictures of my family
6. the gospel
7. education
8. play time with Abby

8 books I have read recently:
1. Twilight
2. New Moon
3. Eclipse
4. love and logic
5. Jane Austen Bio
6. The Peace giver
7. The work and the glory book 3
8. Elmo & Abby

8 things I often say:
1. Abby Kate Forrey...get out of the toilet!
2. Love you
3. Seriously
4. fabulous
5. No, no Abby
6. cool
7. give mommy kisses
8. I'm exhausted!

8 things that annoy me:
1. tail gaters
2. My daughter being mean to other kids.
3. long waits at the doctor's office
4. gum chewers (that chomp and pop gum with an open mouth!)
5. my short temper
6. spiders in my house.
7. slow computers
8. loud talking people.

8 things I look forward to each day:
1. Being with Abby
2. Steve coming home for lunch
3. a quiet house
4. nap time
5. listening to good music
6. the sunshine
7. adult conversation
8. a kiss and hug from Steve

8 things I look for in a friend:
1. fun personality
2. upholds good standards
3. likes to be social
4. understanding
5. good listener
6. likes to eat chocolate!
7. common interests
8. likes to talk

8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel with Steve
2. debt free
3. lose weight
4. overcome my fear of the ocean so that I can learn to surf.
5. Read more books
6. have more children
7. sing in some sort of large production.
8. learn to play another instrument.

8 things I have learned this past year:
1. Being a Mom is a really hard job!
2. Being a wife can sometimes be even harder!
3. it's okay if the dishes aren't done the the floor isn't swept
4. being frugal gives you freedom!
5. nap time for kids is essential!
6. I have to have a lot of sleep to function...at least 8 hours or you are just better off to stay away!
7. That I actually do like to read.
8. that harsh words toward anyone are useless!

8 people I tag:
1. Emily
2. Aimee
3. Mohna
4. Kristy
5. Lindsay
6. Rachel
7. Mikaela
8. Elizabeth

WHAT A WEEKEND!

WEDNESDAY JULY 2ND STARTED OFF WITH EXCITING NEWS THAT GRANDMA & GRANDPA FORREY WERE HEADED TO IDAHO FOR THE 4TH OF JULY! THEY GOT HERE THURSDAY NIGHT AND WE GOT UP BRIGHT AND EARLY FOR THE PARADE. HERE IS ABBY KICKIN' BACK IN THE CAMP CHAIR LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

WE HEADED HOME AND SENT STEVE OFF TO WORK FOR THE AFTERNOON (BUMMER THAT HE HAD TO WORK FROM 12-4) WHEN HE GOT HOME WE LET HIM REST FOR A FEW MINUTES AND WE ALL HEADED OUT THE DOOR AND DOWN TO THE RIVER. THIS YEAR WE DID THINGS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY AND WENT THE THE FORMAL FREEDOM CELEBRATION AT THE SHILO INN. HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE CLAN. WE HAD A GREAT TIME...THANKS G&G FORREY!

THE NEXT AFTERNOON WE ALL (MINUS STEVE...HE HAD TO WORK SATURDAY TOO ) HEADED TO UTAH FOR THE BLESSING OF THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE FORREY FAMILY...MAGGIE JADE FORREY! SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF JAKE & BETH. HERE IS PICTURE OF ALL OF US AFTER THE BLESSING.

ABBY HAD A GREAT TIME PLAYING WITH ALL OF THE COUSINS....ESPECIALLY MACI, HERE IS A CUTE SHOT OF THE TWO OF THEM.

AFTER THE BLESSING AND LUNCH WERE OVER, WE ALL HEADED TO WALK AROUND TEMPLE SQUARE. IT WAS A WONDERFUL TIME. ABBY FELL ASLEEP ON THE WAY THERE AND THANKFULLY THE VISITOR CENTER HAD A STROLLER TO LEND OUT.

AFTER SHE WOKE UP SHE WAS ACTING SILLY WITH THESE FACES! THANKS UNCLE JAKE FOR CATCHING THEM ON FILM. IT IS A FABULOUS PICTURE IF ONLY SHE HAD A SMILE ON HER FACE! SILLY ABBY! WE STAYED WITH AUNT SARAH IN PROVO AT HER CUTE..CUTE APARTMENT. THANKS FOR LETTING US STAY WE HAD A GREAT TIME!

ONCE WE GOT HOME, G & G FORREY THREW AN EARLY BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR ABBY'S 2ND BIRTHDAY. THEY LIVE FAR AWAY SO WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE A TRIP BACK FOR THE ACTUAL BIRTHDAY. THEY GOT HER A TINY CAKE AND EVERYTHING. SHE LOVED IT. THEY ALSO GAVE HER A LEAP PAD THINGY TO HELP HER LEARN HER LETTERS AND NUMBERS BETTER. SHE CAN ACTUALLY COUNT TO 25 BUT DOESN'T ASSOCIATE THE #'S YET. THANKS GRANDMA & GRANDPA FOR ALL THAT YOU DO FOR US AND OUR LITTLE ABBY! WE HAD A SUPER FUN TIME DURING YOUR STAY.